Quick Contact

Contact Service

Lakeview Farms | Case Study

Strategic collaboration keeps refrigerated foods producer competitive

Lakeview Farms, based in Delphos, Ohio, produces a diverse array of refrigerated food products and frozen desserts, including sour cream, dips, gelatin desserts, cheesecakes and several flavors of flan. It serves retail supermarkets through distributors and warehouse-direct sales, as well as food service customers, convenience stores and warehouse clubs within the United States and internationally.

In August 2004, one of the company’s largest customers needed to change its channel of distribution in a very short period of time, and Lakeview Farms had to respond in a hurry. They received several referrals to NT Logistics. Three weeks later, NT was arranging the full distribution for Lakeview Farms across the country.

“We were in a position where we needed to move quickly, and they accepted that challenge and really did it seamlessly,” says John Kopilchack, Lakeview Farms’ vice president of sales, who says he’s seen no diminishment in NT’s passion to serve. “In a service business where you need to perform every week, it’s critical to strategically align yourself with a partner who continues to strive for perfection and improvement.”

A true strategic partner

He says that NT has brought Lakeview Farms a national distribution network that allows it to serve customers across the country — and at competitive prices — despite increasing fuel prices and other cost increases.

“There’s a tremendous amount of pressure upon us today to keep costs in line or even reduce costs,” Kopilchack says. “The efforts that NT has put forth to help maximize trucks, and to help us be as efficient as we possibly can be, has allowed us to compete in this environment.”

There is also continuous pressure to reduce lead times. Once a purchase order is received, Lakeview Farms’ timeframe for delivery to a warehouse needs to be as short as possible, minimizing its customers’ inventories on hand. Further complicating the task of shipping these goods across the country is their short shelf life and their need to stay at temperatures of 40 degrees or below.

“We haven’t seen anybody that can do it as well as NT,” Kopilchack says.

With NT’s help, Lakeview Farms has optimized the efficiency of its trucks by combining additional customers with the flow of products through NT Logistics. This has enabled them to maximize the weights of the trucks and further control costs.

“There’s complexity whenever you are taking many POs and combining them in a trucking lane that gets all those goods where they need to be in a timely fashion,” Kopilchack explains. “A lot of thought goes into how that’s coordinated because the weights of the orders change each week. It’s a continuous work in progress.”

Constant communication is key

Ongoing, real-time visibility is a critical success factor in this business. Since turning over management of distribution to NT Logistics, Lakeview Farms knows where its vehicles are, where the products are, and the status of its shipments at all times.

“The last thing that we ever have to worry about is our products getting to the customer in good condition in a timely fashion,” Kopilchack says.

Their communications channel with NT is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If there’s a problem with a client on a delivery at 11 o’clock Sunday night, NT is on top of it. With the ability to identify a problem and communicate it to the customer in real time, it’s easier to develop solutions and buy some time with the customer.

“Are we perfect? No,” Kopilchack says. “But we know when we’re not, and we’d rather inform the customer of that versus the customer informing us.”

Generously sharing knowledge

Besides the trucks arranged by NT, Lakeview Farms also has 10 semis on the road. In the spirit of partnership, without seeking any monetary gain, NT has freely shared its expertise to help Lakeview Farms manage its own trucking operations.

“They have a tremendous handle on moving goods throughout the country. Not only do they provide great service, they provide the understanding and technology to help us become a better transportation firm as well,” Kopilchack marvels. “There are no secrets — they share what they know. They will help you become better even if it means they lose a little bit of freight in the process. That’s a great strategic partner.”